Would you sell your ghetto pass for a million dollars?
In the mid-80s, renegade celebrity photographer J Lash (left) was offered a million dollars by the National Enquirer for a “compromising” photo of Magic Johnson, pre-AIDS revelation (the tape recorder died when I asked the details of this photo, which he declares is “probably God’s will”). He turned it down because he feared he’d lose credibility if he aired out his clients’ dirty laundry. His refusal to sell only helped to further his career, helping him gain trust and respect. J was born and raised in California and was active in the club scene during the Death Row era, but for the past six years he’s been a staple in the Miami nightlife. He’s passionate about photography not only for the art form, but also for the adrenaline rush that comes from chasing artists and dodging bodyguards. When it comes to major concerts and events, he prefers to sneak in the side door rather than go through the tiresome paperwork process of requesting credentials and dealing with publicists. Because of that, he brags, “I’ve been kicked out of the greatest parties in the world.”
Over the years, J’s lens has focused on scenery, models, rappers, singers, and athletes, and you’ve probably seen his work many places and didn’t even realize it. Some of his most recognizable shots include a Tupac photo which appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone and a photo of Biggie at the Soul Train Awards the night he was murdered. J also captured the infamous shot of Mike Tyson biting off Evander Holyfield’s ear, and the bullet-riddled car after Tupac was shot. Throughout the years, his work has appeared in magazines like Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, VIBE, The Source, Jet, NOW, and of course, OZONE. J is a hustler - for example - he’ll often shoot several rolls of pictures at an artist’s concert or video shoot. Then, the next time they come to town, he presents them with a complete photo album available for purchase. During the weekend of the MTV VMAs in Miami, he captured shots of police arresting Styles P outside South Beach hotspot Opium Gardens. He also is available to shoot model comp cards, and if you can’t reach him at 954-733-3613 you can find him at any video shoot, concert, party, or strip club in South Florida.
How did you originally get into photography?
It was a hobby at first. I used to hang out and shoot on the beach, watching the waves hit the rocks on Venice Beach with the sunset hitting the water. While I was taking pictures of the waves, this girl came up that looked better than the rocks and the waves. I thought it was one of those tricks, like Candid Camera. I thought it was my homeboys playing tricks on me so I’m waiting for somebody to jump out and laugh at me or something. She took off some sweatpants and a big hat and a long t-shirt and handed me a roll of film. She told me to take pictures of her because she would look better than the rocks. So, she basically showed me how to take pictures through trial and error. It turned out that she managed a photo store right there on the beach, so she took her photos and hung them up on the wall and told all her friends. Next thing you know, I’m shooting all her friends. By the end of the summer I had a lot of new clients so I opened up my own photography studio.
How did you make the transition from shooting models into shooting concerts and parties?
I used to just shoot girls on the beach, then I started hanging out in the clubs. I took a couple cool pictures and sent ‘em to the magazines. I used to sneak in Don King’s fights, and I got the first picture of Mike Tyson that was published in Sports Illustrated. Then Don gave me a job and I worked for him for about ten years.
Since you always like to sneak into events, have you ever been arrested or had your film taken?
I’ve had my film taken plenty of times. I’ve been chased by every top security guard in the country. I’ve been chased by R Kelly’s security, they couldn’t catch me. Prince’s security guards couldn’t catch me. R Kelly was performing at the Miami Arena, and I just snuck in the back door and got into the crowd and took some pictures of him, and his security guards started chasing me from the other side of the arena. They got me cornered in the middle so I just started jumping over chairs with people sitting in ‘em. The other security guards from the Miami Arena started chasing me, and I had to run out the back door. The only security guards who ever caught me was actually R Kelly’s security, but it was in Cali at the House of Blues. I think they remembered me from the Miami incident. You ever seen the 7-Up commercial where the crowd is so thick they just pass the guy from one end of the crowd to the other? That’s what they did, they passed me from one bodyguard to another ‘til they got me in the back. They took my film, and they tried to take my camera and threatened to beat me up, the whole nine.
Why is it such a big deal if you take a picture of R Kelly?
I don’t know. I don’t see why it’s such a big deal. I’ve been chased by Michael Jackson’s security, too, that’s a good story. I was at the Sammy Davis Jr. Tribute, and I was in the back just hangin’ out. I see the gates come down, Sammy comes through, so I eased into the situation. Next thing you know, Elizabeth Taylor comes out. Michael Jackson comes out with this big security guard. Billy D says to me, “You aren’t getting ready to do what I think you’re gonna do, are you?” So I just flash, flash, flash. Michael sees me, and all his security runs towards me like I just shot the president. They circled around me, and the big guy is like, “Give me your film,” reaching for my camera. I had already taken the film out and stuck it in my drawers and put another roll in. Billy D was just sittin’ there crackin’ up, like, “I told you don’t do it!” Mike Tyson saw the situation and ran over with his neck flinchin’ and stuff, like, (imitates Mike Tyson voice) “Hey! That’s my photographer! You can’t mess with him, that’s my man! You’re not gonna disrespect me! I used to have bitches like you ironing my drawers!” Now, this guy is like 7’1”, and mike is like 5’11”. Mike looked like he was gonna take him though. Then Don [King] comes up like, (imitates Don King voice) “Naw, naw, naw, naw, that’s my man right there. Hey, Mike, what’s up baby!” Then they did their little hug and shit and Don says, “Take this picture!” Mike jumps in the middle, the security guard steps back, Michael steps over, I flash. Don and Mike laugh about it and Mike tells the security guard, “Peace, no problem man, everything’s good.” So I snap another shot where they’re laughing (below). I put the shot in a couple magazines, but they’re like, “You gotta stop doing this shit, you can’t just be taking pictures of Michael Jackson!” I was like, shit, “Michael Jackson, you’ve been flashed by J Lash!”
Why not just go through the proper methods of requesting credentials?
That’s the beautiful thing about meeting you (laughing). Now I know the right thing to do. I didn’t have avenues, I didn’t know who to call. I still don’t know the PR people. I just show up.
Being a photographer, you end up spending a lot of time with celebs. Who’s the most interesting character you’ve come across?
The most fun I’ve had was with Mike Tyson, I guess because I went around the world with him. I was with him when we took the Concourse from New York to Paris. It was me, him, and Don King, we were the only blacks on the plane. The flight was ten grand one-way. It only took us two and a half hours to get there. My worst moment with Mike Tyson was opening night of Club ZNo’s last year. Him and Don King were going through some shit, and he knew me through Don. So P Man Sam called me over to take a picture of him and Benzino, and as soon as I took the picture, Mike saw me and he just flipped. He was screaming, “You’re the enemy! You’re the enemy!” He’s swinging on me and I’m ducking, and finally security came over and pulled him away from me. I guess they were wondering why he hadn’t just knock me the hell out. Mike grabbed my camera, smashed it to the ground, jumped on it. The whole time he’s stomping on my camera screaming, “You’re the enemy!”
What about artists? Who have you spent a lot of time with?
I’ve been around a lot of shit with [Uncle] Luke. There’s sides to Luke. There’s Luke the Freak Nasty man, Luke the businessman, and then Luke the family man when he’s at home with his kids. Luke and Don [King] possess a lot of the same traits; they’re both shrewd businessmen. One thing I learned from Don King is that you never get what you deserve, you only get what you can negotiate. Same thing with Luke. If Luke catches you not knowing what time it is, it’s not his fault that you decided to sign the contract and you’re gonna starve to death off that contract. That was on you. Shoulda waited. I remember Don King telling me that he had a large amount of money on the table with HBO, but it wasn’t enough. So he left several million dollars on the table and went to ABC and made a new deal for a cheaper amount, but it had better growth potential. Of course, ABC Wide World of Sports became a big hit. The lesson is that when somebody offers you money, you might be hungry so it might sound like a great price, but you should think twice. Prime example is TLC. It probably sounded like a great deal at the time, but they went bankrupt and they had platinum hits. I think the same thing is true with B2K. It might have been a good situation for the one guy in the group, which is why he’s going solo, but apparently his situation was better than the rest of them.
So you took the infamous photo of Tupac’s car riddled with bullets when he was killed? Describe that situation.
The fight had just ended and the press conference was over with, so I was supposed to follow this girl to a club where Foxy Brown was performing with Kurupt. Anyway, I took the shortcut and they went the long way. They went down Las Vegas Boulevard and made a right on Harmon, near the front of the hotel, and I had went out the back way. The girl called me and told me to come back, she was like, “Something is poppin’.” So we circled back and police cars were already there, they had already moved ‘Pac from the scene and it was just the car left there and the crime scene tape. It was crazy. Police everywhere, bullet holes in the car. I took a couple shots of the scene.
On a business tip, how do you make money as a photographer?
Well, I have a lot of corporate sponsorships, like Nike, Nabisco, stuff like that. Working with Don King and Showtime/HBO helped a lot. The corporations will hire me to shoot conventions, but everybody thinks I’m just in the clubs. I don’t wanna be just shooting Polaroid pictures of the girls for $10. When it comes to hip-hop, “Rap is what you do, hip-hop is how you live.” Hip-hop is how I live.
From a financial perspective, if somebody wanted to come up in the game as a hip-hop photographer, what route would you recommend?
Shoot, I don’t know. They don’t wanna go the route I went. I’m still going the wrong direction (laughing). I’m still having problems with magazines, getting my money. You’ve gotta invoice ‘em all the time, fax ‘em all this paperwork. I know that doesn’t sound very encouraging. I see a lot of new photographers in the game taking pictures and sending ‘em to the magazines, but I don’t know if they’re getting paid for it. I don’t wanna drop any dimes on any magazines that don’t pay photographers –
We know who they are (laughing).
Yeah. Well, see, if you deal directly with the label you can get the big check, but I try to just deal with the artist directly and hustle whatever I can hustle.
Are there any artists that haven’t paid you?
(laughing) Well, yes there is. But I don’t wanna call ‘em out ‘cause I’m still trying to get my money!
Is there anyone who pays exceptionally well?
No (laughing). Well I’m sure there are, but I can’t think of any right now. It’s been a while since I had an artist who paid exceptionally well. I mean, they pay, it just takes a long time and you have to hear, “Don’t worry, I got you,” constantly. I had a
couple photo agencies I worked with, like CIPA Press – shouts to Sue, she got me a lot
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of major magazine covers. I’ve had a lot of covers of boxing magazines and stuff like that, and the Tupac shot was on the cover of Rolling Stone. It was small, it wasn’t the main picture on the cover, but a cover is a cover.
What parties have you been kicked out of?
Recently, or a long time ago? I haven’t been kicked out of too many parties lately. Probably the last party I got kicked out of was [Alonzo Mourning’s] Summer Groove. There was a big dinner, and they had all the press standing outside but I snuck in and sat down at a table. I didn’t know you were supposed to pay some elaborate price – or maybe I did and just didn’t care – but anyway, I was thinking that they weren’t gonna notice if one plate of food was missing. In any event, I was wrong and I apologize. I sat down and ate, and that’s when security came and grabbed me and asked if I wanted to make, like, a fifteen-hundred dollar donation for the plate of food. I was like, “Man, there wasn’t even steak!” (laughing) Fifteen hundred dollars and no steak?
What methods do you use to sneak into all these events?
Man, people have to pay for this type of information! Well, for one, I think I get away with a lot of stuff because I’m like oxygen: I’m everywhere. People know that if they don’t have J Lash at their party, they don’t really have a party. If people are at a party and they don’t see me, they start wondering, “Am I at the right party?” They’ll call me like, “Man, I’ve been looking out for you, where you at?” Then when I tell ‘em which club I’m at they’re like, “Aw, I KNEW I shoulda gone over there!” (laughing) I need to have like, a J Lash hotline. For ninety-nine cents you can dial and find out where the hot shit is.
So you just have the right relationships with security?
Security and promoters. The biggest security guards? You better make ‘em your friend. Don’t ever get smart with security. It’s better to be friends with security than the artist, because if you’re cool with security you can get to the artist. The artists are secondary.
So how did you get cool with security?
Most of the time I think they just got tired of chasing me from back in the day. For example, some of Michael Jackson’s security was working for Jermaine Dupri for a minute. I saw some security that used to work for Prince that started working for Jay-Z for a minute. Now, Jay-Z has police that are seven feet tall that’ll tell you, “I will shoot you if you take a picture of him.” And they be lookin’ serious, too. I was at an event where Jay-Z was with Timbaland and I was getting ready to take a picture and this guy – he was bigger than Shaq, I’m sure – says, “Look here, son, I’m only gonna tell you this one time: do not take that picture. I am a secret service officer and I have the right to do whatever I want to you. Do not do anything with that camera.” I was like, “Alright, big boss.” Only ‘cause I didn’t have a digital camera. Now that I’ve got digital, there’s no flash going off, so I could get away with it. I stepped my game up.
Besides that, are there any photo ops you regret that you weren’t able to get?
Puffy and Jennifer Lopez at Opium Gardens. I coulda got it, but I woulda got my boy in trouble. I was close enough and I had the camera, but it would have flashed. If I had taken the picture, he might have lost his job. He was Puffy’s right-hand man at the time. Puff and Jennifer were just doin’ their little dance. Puff is a very interesting person. I took the pictures of him and Biggie back in the day and I’ve given him posters and stuff like that. I don’t know if they’ve made it onto the wall at his house or anything like that, but who knows. I tried to take a shot of him with Irv Gotti from Murder Inc and he wouldn’t do it. Later, Irv told me, “Everybody can’t take a picture with America’s most wanted,” so I understood. Irv is still a cool brother. I respect street people. Everybody who’s in this game isn’t in it for money. I’m not into photography for the money. The money helps, but I’m in it for the passion and the love ‘cause it’s what I do. I don’t take the pictures necessarily for the cash all the time. I have to pay for my equipment, but the pictures to me are more for the memory. When you get flashed by J Lash, it’s not just a picture or a photograph. It’s a memory. You can always go back and look at that photo and remember.
- Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com
(All photos provided by J Lash)
